School-based mentoring in initial teacher education : the views of prospective mathematics teachers

Abstract

The Faculty of Education introduced a form of school-based mentoring for students enrolled in the Masters in Teaching and Learning (MTL) programme that was launched in October 2016. Our study aims to explore this ‘support system’ through the eyes of current B.Ed. (Hons.) students specialising in mathematics education who do not formally experience mentoring during their Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Drawing on a qualitative research methodology, the thirteen participants were first invited to a Power Point presentation during which we explained the notion of school-based mentoring and suggested different ways how this can be implemented during Teaching Practice. Following the presentation we conducted individual semi-structured interviews with all the participants. Being B.Ed. (Hons.) mathematics students ourselves, we included our own views as part of the collected data. Informed consent was sought from all participants and we took all other measures to conduct ethical research (e.g., use of pseudonyms and not identifying participants by year of study). A fundamental finding of the study is that all participants are in favour of introducing school-based mentoring in ITE programmes as they believe it would be a beneficial source of support and guidance during a critical period in their studies.